42
This one has been corrected by Pink Shirt (many thankies :x)
A Strange Whim
Kankuro's very first reaction when Tenten, red like a tomato, headed to her room was to jump and stop her. This reaction was quickly pushed away by his common sense, which told him to leave her alone. He thought of a few moments, showing him memories about her behaviour when there was a hint of realised her reaction was almost the same every time there was sex mentioned in some way making her feel very uneasy. And then it became clear to him - she didn't feel comfortable because she was probably inexperienced. It was just…it wasn't a typical behaviour for a woman that had some sexual experience, it was more or less typical for a… well, for virgins. And not even for all virgins…
Kankuro thought over and over again about the conclusion he had just made, because even though it was quite logical, it still sounded somehow incredible to him. She was very, very attractive. How was it even possible for those men here to not see it? Or maybe she rejected the men interested in her because of her personal reasons? That sounded a bit more likely according to his understanding. He still hasn't decided how exactly he would treat this topic. But he was convinced whatever her reasons for staying away from men were, they probably would be good enough. In general, it was highly untypical for kunoichi to hold onto her virginity until the wedding.
He sighed quietly and clenched his teeth while getting up. He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge - there were a few boxes with some food from the last 2 days. A perfect moment for some leftovers.
Kankuro took them out and started to heat them on the hot plate. When he was ready, he arranged them on the table and went to the bedroom door. He knocked on the door…
"Yeah?" Tenten's voice came from the inside.
"Dinner is ready. Come to the kitchen."
He went back to the table and picked a chair. Few minutes later he heard the bedroom's door opening, shortly after Tenten appeared.
"If you keep messing around, there won't be anything left for you." he said calmly, without facing her. She approached timidly and sat down on the chair opposite of him. She avoided looking at him with her sides visibly flushing. Kankuro had a choice: he could just scold her to buck up or he could ignore all of her visible signs of embarrassment and act as if nothing had happened. He picked the second option…
"Well, are you hungry, or what?"
Tenten didn't answer right away. She sat calmly, looking down at her empty plate.
"It is not going to fill up by itself, you know," he added while handing her some of the food he saw her eating when they were together.
She took the plate with caution, avoiding making eye contact with him. Then she put some on her own plate and started to eat quietly. She felt obligated to give some explanation of her behaviour, even if he didn't require any. She was utterly confused…
"I…" She heard her own voice speaking.
Kankuro raised his head and looked at her.
"Maybe…you wonder…why I hid in my room…" The sentence resembled a question, but she wasn't really asking.
He put his elbows on the table resting his chin on them. His face was serious, there was no trace of any mockery. So far with the decision of not talking about it…
"I think I know why you hid from me," the man said slowly. "And let me make this easier for you - I think you have never had sex before."
There was no reaction on her side except the bright red cheeks on her face. He continued:
"And let me make it even easier for you when I tell you it doesn't matter for the mission we are involved in, so… it doesn't concern me. No no one forces you to have sex with me. Whatever the reasons you haven't done it yet, I am sure you have a solid reason for the situation and I accept it."
She sighed quietly and it felt like a wave of relief passed through the whole room. She didn't expect such an understanding. Actually she expected to not meet understanding in his face, but she was wrong. He thought she had her reasons and that was true. And Tenten would never, ever, share with him her reasons, she didn't need to.
"You can calm down," he smiled. "Your secret will die with me." He waited for her to look at him and winked.
The girl smiled, full of / filled with gratitude.
Luckily for him, Tenten was so deeply in her own thoughts she didn't notice his paler skin and the constantly increasing number of little sweaty droplets on his forehead. This was kind of a relief for him.
"But don't expect it to become easier," he said suddenly.
"Wha…what?"
He smiled at her palling face.
"The more time passes the harder it will become for you to share it, especially around people talking about sex freely." She nodded. She had already started feeling this for the past two years. The only one of her closest friends, who still hadn't slept with anyone, was Hinata. Even Sakura has done it. Though she was thinking about the sex more practically, she often said: "I have a stomach - I get hungry, I have a genitalia - I feel the urge to have sex." On the other hand, she spared every detail but was yet to share who she used to date for her physiological sexual needs.
Tenten dared to look at him again. She was innerly furious about her own behaviour, but she just couldn't overcome the uneasiness… at least not yet. She was wondering if he was going to ask about "why" she didn't have sex yet, actually. He didn't. She was glad about it.
"Can I ask you a favour?"
"You can ask anything," she smiled. "But that doesnt mean I can satisfy it."
"Fair enough." He nodded and put a bite in his mouth. When he swallowed it, he continued, "You did ask me to not put makeup on from time to time, right?"
"I did…"
"Well, I would take it as a personal favour if you let your hair loose sometimes." He said simply and she looked at him unbelievingly. She even doubted she heard him correctly.
"But… why?"
He smiled mysteriously. Then he leaned back, keeping his eyes on her.
"If you want me to not put makeup on as often as I like, I want you to let your hair loose sometimes, we have a deal?"
Tenten raised her eyebrows in disbelief. At first that sounded like a very strange request. But after a few minutes she actually realised it wasn't stranger than her own request, as he pointed out. She then shrugged and nodded.
"All right, it will be your way." She unwittingly touched the two buns on her head. "You mean now?"
"Yes, now sounds good," he nodded.
Tenten unwillingly lifted her hand and took the hairpins out. Her hair scattered down like a waterfall on her back, shoulders and face. The girl removed the locks from her face so she could see.
The man's thoughts returned to Kiba and Naruto. How is it possible for Konoha's idiots to not accept her as a woman? She is the personification of femininity! Every curve was in the right place. And even though the poison was making him weaker and weaker, his body still felt somehow excited.
"Better?" She asked, smiling shyly just like Hinata.
"Much better." He nodded calmly.
They continued to eat silently. Tenten eventually felt much more relaxed. Her body started to accept him as a part of her life from now on and making her less alert. He got up and went to the sink to wash the plates. She took care of the table.
"Good night." She wished.
"Good night." He replied and smiled slightly, remembering Ino's gift.
Tenten didn't see his smile and just let him finish the plates in peace.
Kankuro closed his eyes and groaned when he shifted the weight on his wounded leg. Cold shivers crept down his back - sure sign of raising fever. He touched his forehead - it was definitely a fever.
He bent down and began to splash his face with water. Then he wet his shoulders, arms, chest and abdomen. He had to cool down somehow…
…
Tenten was sitting on the bed looking at the weeping willow's silhouette. She was recalling the conversation from earlier in her head. He stated whatever her reasons to not have a sex with a man were, they were valid for her. She went back to the initial reasons. The very first reason she never shared with anyone. Even her closest friends didn't know the very truth about her decision - she told them she wants to fall in love and marry before going to bed with anyone. That sounded a bit like a fairytale, but they've accepted it.
And there it was, the very root of her reasons was related to Neji. When she was in love with him years ago, she learned that for a girl to be married in the Huuga family, she must be pure, untouched by another man. Even then she was aware Neji probably would have chosen an arranged marriage. But there was a glimpse of hope in her that if he didn't, he may eventually pick her… So she wanted to keep herself pure for him. As years passed, she gave up on this hope of her, because Neji never showed any affection towards her. Then she already told her friends something that she just couldn't let go so easily.
…
Kankuro was lying on the floor since it was the coolest place. It was too hot on the sofa. He couldn't take the touch of the sheets right now. He had taken off the t-shirt and the shorts he usually slept with, left in only underpants. There was a bowl with water near him so he could periodically wet his skin to control his temperature, holding it close enough for his reach.
He fell asleep at some point.
Tenten woke up by a thud, like something hit the floor. Before she even opened her eyes, she grabbed her knife and got up, ready to fight. There was no one else in her room… She carefully headed towards the living room. Opening the door, she took a fast look for danger - no danger sensed. But Kankuro wasn't on the sofa, instead he was lying flat on his stomach on the hard floor. There was an overturned ceramic bowl near his hand, so she must have heard that…
She approached slowly, bent on her knees and tried to touch his shoulder. When her hand reached his skin, a wave of fear washed over her - his skin was burning. Tenten shook his shoulder:
"Hey, Kankuro, wake up!"
He couldn't really react, at least not right away like a normal healthy person would. His reactions were obviously slow - she could say that when he attempted to lift his head.
"Hey, what's wrong? What is going on with you?" Her stomach was clenched into a ball.
"Do we have to go?" He asked quietly and his body trembled convulsively.
"What?" She looked at her watch without realising what she was doing. "No, no… It is still early - it is 5 o'clock."
He dropped his head on the floor. Tenten's breath got caught into her throat, her heart started to pump strongly in her chest. She tensed, grabbed his shoulders, and turned him to the side.
"Please! Tell me what's going on!" She pleaded.
Kankuro took a sharp breath and asked her for a glass of water. She got on her feet right away and fulfilled his request. He barely pushed up to sit so he could drink the water.
"Kankuro, I am going to the hospital to get a medic here." She said, walking backwards to her room, so she could change into something better than sleeping shorts and a sleeveless top.
"No…" He whispered. There was a desperate plea in those two letters that stopped her.
"Look, you obviously feel sick, I don't know what to do to help you, you don't tell me what's going on… I just can't leave you like that! Do you understand me?!"
"Come…" He whispered again.
Tenten's eyes filled with tears but she bent down to reach him.
"During yesterday's mission, I got wounded by a shuriken… Later on it turned out it had green poison on it." His lips hardly moved, she had to stay very close to him to be able to hear him and understand him.
She frowned.
"You need medical help," she said decisively.
He grabbed her wrist:
"No, please don't… They will make me stay… It may be too late for Temari…"
Tenten looked at him - he was pale, trembling, sweaty and so flaccid, he couldn't really hold his head up. She felt terrible. If she went to rat about his condition, they were going to hold him in - he was right about it. If they stayed for a few more days, and Temari didn't make it till then, she would have felt really, really awful.
"Kankuro, I can't let you die just like this. Especially if I know I can do something about it. Even if Temari is at stake…" She cried out, helplessly.
"I am not dying from this." He smiled and made a great effort to lift his hand and touch her hair. Then he sighed and laid back on the floor. "The poison causes body weakness and fever… Until the body succeeds in handling it…"
Without really realising what she was doing, she caressed his face and ran her slightly trembling fingers through his sweaty hair.
"How do you think you will deceive Neji?" She asked, meaning his Huuga's clan special ability. "And even if you succeeded in deceiving him, how do you plan on doing this with Godaime?"
Kankuro looked at her with a slightly wandering look.
"The symptoms are way weaker during the daylight, if any." He replied. "When the sun rises it will get better, I promise. I need to deceive them only during the night."
"The poison is lightensitive?" The girl sounded surprised.
"It is…" He sighed.
Tenten got up and went to the big window, located on the east wall. She removed the heavy curtains. Very soon the first sunlight would appear. If Kankuro was right, she would see the improvements with her eyes. If he lied to her, she was going straight to Godaime.
...
Shikamaru had problems with falling asleep. He was turning in his bed. He got up a few times making himself tea… It didn't help him. At the end he just grabbed his blanket, wrapped himself in it and fully opened the window. His plan was to look at the stars…
After an hour in the same position, Shikamaru decided to move a bit. He stretched, then went to his backpack. Taking out the little blue bag, a gift from his father, he smiled so slightly, one would have wondered if he smiled at all. He opened it slowly and even slower, he turned it upside down and poured its contents into his palm.
"That's going to suit her…" he said quietly.
